I Changed My Mind About Military Style
A lot of thoughts on how to wear camo, bomber jackets, and other tactical gear without looking cop-adjacent.
Hello! I still do not have a job and things are getting dire—this is a great time to subscribe to the blog for as little as $1.50/month or $15/year, share your favorite post, Venmo em-sk just for fun, or simply leave a like and a comment to show you’re out there. I appreciate you all so much. Luckily, I’m feeling inspired by fashion again…
In a post I made maybe four or five years ago, I decried camo prints, and military-inspired fashion in general, as symptomatic of an increasingly militarized and fascist tenor in our society’s aesthetic codes. I still have hard feelings about the sublimation of tactical gear into mere fashion choices, but I have to admit—ever since moving to PDX and meeting people whose leftism includes a concept of militarization as opposed to the neoliberal “guns are bad” mantra, I have seen the potential for this stuff in my wardrobe.
I still personally wish all guns would disappear from the world and think they’re a coward’s weapon—swords or bows and arrows only would be my ideal—but the idea that the state and its cronies should have a monopoly on violence while the resistance weakly shakes a disapproving finger instead of doing absolutely anything to defend itself is so, so far behind where we are in the reality of 2026. I’m not here to litigate this point or do any actual mobilizing, at least not at this point—this is a fashion blog, after all.
I just wanted to explain why I’ve been able to detach such visual cues as camo print and army green from solely nationalist or fascist implications. I’ve always LOVED utilitarian fashion, as one of my first-ever posts from my now-defunct website six years ago stated, and the thing that draws me to military clothes is their commitment to function: perfectly roomy pockets; hard-to-tear, reinforced fabrics; colors that make you high or low-visibility depending on which way you wear them; temperature-controlling pieces; and so on. Below are different looks that have inspired this new phase of my style, curated outfits filled with shoppable pieces (all secondhand, most under $50), and more.
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Before we get to the shoes, I just want to shout out two scents that were… well, sent to me by two of my favorite brands of all time, Kismet Olfactive and Jorum Studios. One I love (and already knew I loved but now have a gloriously full-sized bottle of), the other not so much.
This look was the first camo print-inflected fit to really catch my eye and make me want to replicate it. I saw a camo military jacket for $50 at my local vintage store then found an almost precise dupe on Depop, the exact one linked just below, actually, haggled it down to $16 (you can usually find at least one good option for under $20 at any given time, I think), and got a $12 orange hoodie (zip-up, as is my preference) for $12 at the new consignment store that just opened up down the street. I like how the bright orange mimics the inner lining of an authentic MA-1 bomber jacket (I got mine here), providing the low vis/high vis contrast that characterizes so much tactical gear. I’m not a fan of a white skirt for practical reasons, so…
…I took a cue from this FRUiTS look and paired the sweatshirt and jacket with a colorful plaid skirt. Not the most practical either, but paired with some (ridiculously expensive secondhand, sorry) buckle-covered, knee-high Converse and a clashing plaid bag, it feels so fresh and energetic:
Vintage camo jacket - $24.32 (Sale)
Polo sweatshirt - $31.15
Vintage plaid skirt - $11.62 (Sale)
Plaid bag - $24.85
Knee-high Converse - $315.70
This is one of the simpler looks I fell in love with, the focal point being the saturated green socks that clash slightly with the duller greens of the camo jacket. Adding a French-style striped shirt and patent loafers brings a jolt of preppiness into the otherwise more grunge (in the style of Lindsay Weir) look, and I can’t see exactly what this person is wearing, but the fit lends itself to a leather fanny pack worn crossbody, IMO.
Vintage camo jacket - $26.22 (sale)
Striped shirt - $36.40 (Sale)
Vintage Levi’s jeans - $17.50 (Sale)
Leather fanny pack - $11.20
Green socks - $13.30
Bass Weejuns loafers - $36.40 (Sale)
